The Talk
SEBASTIAN DRAPAC’S RULES TO PLAYING THE INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT GAME
EXCLUSIVE BY SANDRA LOGIUDICE, READY MEDIA GROUP
SEBASTIAN DRAPAC COO of Drapac Capital Partners
“When you hit a corner, speed up. Because that is when you need to challenge and push yourself, whether that be spiritually, physically, intellectually, or professionally.”
This motto has clearly served Sebastian Drapac well. From wrapping promo posters on road poles at midnight to waiting on tables and paper rounds, the now COO of multi- billion-dollar investment company Drapac Capital Partners, understands hard work. Together with well-known industry expert and father Michael Drapac, Drapac have become renowned for their considered approach to successful investing, their ‘investment model’ and innate ability to interpret data and sniff out good deals unlike any other. Today they are one of the best operators in the business internationally with activity across Australia and the USA. Despite this success, Sebastian maintains a modest, down-to-earth demeanour. “There is nothing remarkable about my journey” he states. “I grew up like a lot of other kids in the 90’s with hard working parents from immigrant families, not liking school and just wanting to play soccer; however, I had an exceptional education and enough competitiveness and ambition in me to want to do more.”
He now has many academic credentials under his belt; a degree in Commerce (Economics) from Monash University, Masters in Real Estate from Melbourne University, and is currently completing an EMBA at NYU. However, it came from working in hospitality that he learnt his most crucial lessons. “It’s where I learnt to deal with sometimes being treated ‘less than’, and that humbles you. Doing those jobs on weekends, not getting paid very much, dealing with different, sometimes difficult people, it all gave me a good grounding which is important for character development. However, I have also had some very fortunate forks in the road and exceptional mentors along the way.” CBRE Sebastian talks very fondly of his early days at CBRE in 2007 with what he describes as a team of ‘rock star’ agents that he and Mark Wizel built together, including Josh Rutman, Max Cookes, Justin Dowers and Lewis Tong amongst many others.
14 –October / November 2022
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